It is well-known, that there is a variety of different automated machines and terminals for postal objects, such as widely known automated machines for postal objects that have a separate locker for each parcel. Courier or parcel delivery person inserts the postal object to the locker of suitable size and enters the receiver. If the same locker has been addressed as the point of delivery for the recipient, the recipient is sent a message as an SMS or the like, and in order to pick up the parcel the recipient keys in the relevant code at the user interface upon which the door of the locker opens for the receiver to pick up their parcel. If a parcel terminal located elsewhere has been assigned as the pick-up place of the parcel, another courier comes to pick up the parcels, enters access code at the user interface or identifies their right to access in some other way, picks up parcels from each locker and takes them to the next automated machine where they insert each parcel into a separate locker after having gained access there.
That kind of generally known solution has several drawbacks. Inserting the parcels by the courier and picking the parcels up by another courier or parcel recipient is slow because each locker must be opened and closed separately. When the parcels have been transferred from one courier to another and parcels for different recipients have been inserted together into one bigger locker there is a danger that a user may have access to unrelated parcels and upon picking parcels up or inserting them the user may mix the parcels up and one or more parcels may end up being delivered to the wrong person. In the case of different parcel senders and recipients, and also for security reasons separate lockers are preferred for each parcel which means that parcel terminals are too large in order to have enough capacity for a sufficient number of lockers. For example, using the service of parcel terminals is expensive at shopping and entertainment centers, sports facilities, airports, etc. because of expensive rented areas available there. However, it is not possible to build parcel terminals higher either because in such a case people of smaller height, or disabled people in wheelchairs would not be able to get their parcel from higher lockers, or some of the parcels are too heavy to be fitted into higher lockers, or to be picked up from these lockers. Another problem is, that since parcel terminals make maximum use of space, some of the lockers are, again, too low and that is what makes it complicated or even impossible for some users to pick up their parcels. Although well-known parcel terminals have lockers of different sizes, the number of lockers of less common sizes is smaller and so it may happen that upon arrival of a parcel there is no locker of that size available at the parcel terminal. That can easily happen due to the fact that during different seasons or at different locations parcels of varying sizes are posted. The identification of the user and granting access is uncomfortable in the case of several widely known solutions, or even insecure because the user must have a special access code, magnetic card or some other solution to be carried along with them in order to identify themselves and gain access. In the case when this identification tool is lost or stolen, the courier or the recipient gains no access to the parcel terminal or parcels and inserting as well as picking up parcels has been hampered. Similarly, in the case of the ID or access solution reaching into the hands of unrelated persons the recipient may not receive their parcel at all.
Therefore, widely known parcel terminals are insecure, with unbalance or little capacity, take up too much space, uncomfortable for users and inserting, storing and delivering parcels is too slow.
The closest solution to the present invention would be U.S. Pat. No. 6,694,217 “Automated system for efficient article storage and self-service retrieval”, which describes a vertical storage locker and is also suitable for sending and receiving parcels. The described solution contains rectangular boxes that have been fixed between two vertical pulling belts creating a vertical carousel-like mechanism. Each box has been divided into drawers. In order to insert the package, the carousel spins until the box with empty drawers has been guided in front of the slot of the storage compartment doors, whereas each drawer has been assigned their own door. Upon retrieving the parcel, the carousel spins in the similar fashion until the drawer with the desired parcel has been guided to its relevant door. The drawback of this solution is their complicated and clumsy structure, and the long waiting time, until the suitable drawer has reached the suitable door, while both inserting and retrieving parcels. As the sending and picking up parcels takes place at different times, then the distribution of parcels in the boxes is uneven, and upon inserting several parcels—when they have to be placed into different boxes—the user must wait until the next box with an empty drawer has reached its door, and again open the suitable door whereas this must be done after inserting each parcel and closing the door. Another issue with this solution is that due to the carousel mechanism and each drawer having their assigned doors, it only enables inserting parcels or postal objects of very limited sizes.
From prior art there are different other known vertical carousel and lift-type solutions that are used to store or warehouse building materials, manufactured and other goods. Carousel solutions work there similarly to the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,694,217. In the case of the so-called lift-type solutions there is a drawer with a board, for placing goods on it or taking them from it, facing the hatch for inserting and retrieving goods. Above the drawer there is a shelf facing another shelf parallel to it, and a lift moves up and down between these two shelves, taking the board or tray with goods placed on it from the hatch, and delivering it up to the suitable shelf. To order the goods to the hatch, the lift is moved to the relevant shelf from which the board with the desired goods is pulled to the platform of the lift. Such solutions have been described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,694,217 according to which the platform of the lift moves thanks to the lifting mechanism of chains fastened to its ends. Or like it is described in the European patent documents EP1473254B1 and EP1462392A2, where, similarly to the moving platform between two shelves, the lifting mechanism of the platform comprises guide rails located at both ends of the platform between which the platform moves. The drawback of such solutions is that in order to warehouse different goods, the platform needs to be moved up and down several times because the platform only allows transporting one board at a time. As the hatch or door to the keeping area of the goods opens to its full capacity in such solutions, that only allows placing goods of the same type or meant for one and the same customer together on it. Such solutions are thus unsuitable for applying to self-service parcel terminals because they do not guarantee sufficient security that the right parcels reach their right recipients; transporting the goods to and from their shelves is complicated and time-consuming.